My LED build

[thereeferdude]

I finally got done with a build I have been working on for a several months.
Started by slowly acquiring components so as not to freak-out my wife with massive invoices. The build began with some critical items:

The heatsink is a 24" Makers LED from LED Group Buy. I think it makes the unit look clean and professionally built. The main components are 2 Inventronics drivers:
1) 50W@ 1100mA for white LEDs
2) 75W@ 700mA for blue LEDs

There are 2 Rapid LED drivers:
1) 25W @ 700mA for "exotic" colors- dialed down to 500mA
2) 13V@ 350mA for moonlights (sorta)

Kyle Hurt
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[Dowtish]

Sweet man! been wondering where you been?

 

[Joker79]

Looking good!!!!! Wanna follow! ;-)

 

[thereeferdude]

For whites, I am running Cree XT; 6 cool whites, 6 natural whites.
For blues I am running 18 Cree XT royal blues, 6 Cree XP blues.
The "exotic" circuit consists of 6 420nm violets, 2 660nm reds, and 2 495nm turquoise.
My moonlights are 2 Cree XT royal blues and 2 420nm violets. This is way too bright and is now being used as a early dawn/late dusk mode.

I went with the BJB solderless connectors so I could easily switch out emitters as needed or the whim arises. I added the ripple wide optics for extra punch. The exotic LEDs and moonlights do not have additional optics.

I managed to fit all the drivers in a aluminum project box to make the entire set-up clean. It even has jacks to plug in controller cables coming from my Digital Aquatics ALC unit. I gotta get a pic of it as soon as I feel motivated. I got excited and plugged it all up and tucked it away before photo documentation. Doh!

Final product:

I have it running at 50% across the board and doubt that I'll need to run it over 75% over my 40gal breeder.


Kyle Hurt
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[mixer911]

Awesome Kyle! Glad to see you back.

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[bknapp]

Looks good man, great job. What'd you use for the light hangers?

 

[thereeferdude]

Thanks! I got the idea from Mortgaged Reefs (Marshall). It is a couple of arms they sell for wooden closet shelves/organizers. Couple of coats of paint to match the stand, some super beefy wall anchors and stainless eye hooks- voilà! I had considered ceiling mounting, but I like the cantilever look better.


Kyle Hurt
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[bknapp]

Thanks! I got the idea from Mortgaged Reefs (Marshall). It is a couple of arms they sell for wooden closet shelves/organizers. Couple of coats of paint to match the stand, some super beefy wall anchors and stainless eye hooks- voilà! I had considered ceiling mounting, but I like the cantilever look better.


Kyle Hurt
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I like it more than my standard ceiling mount, something to look into in my next place, its a great look. Although my fixture maybe heavier than yours, would you feel comfortable hanging a 4' MH Fixture from that?

 

[thereeferdude]

The anchors were rated at 110lbs each, but with the leverage of the arms in play, I would never attempt testing the full rating (believe those ratings are for straight shear). But, even with that said, I believe <50-60lbs would hold like a champ.


Kyle Hurt
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[thereeferdude]

One thing I was really adamant about when building this light was that I didn't want numerous wires hanging everywhere. I was able to use euro-styled terminal blocks in the ballast box and the light fixture then connect the two with a single heavy duty 12 conductor cable. This cable is about 1/2 inch in diameter as each wire is 18 gauge. This cable allowed me to connect 4 ballast, the fans and even a DA lunar pod in one run. I got all crazy and covered this cable with an expandable braided sheath to "pimp it out." I like the open tank look, and the extra attention to detail kept me from having to sacrifice aesthetics.


Kyle Hurt
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[thereeferdude]

The cable:

Another thing I wanted was for the wiring to be hidden in the heatsink without giving up functionality. I hid the terminal blocks and the fan controller with wire mesh. Instead of spending $$ on "modders mesh", I used a metal mesh container used for office organizers. A piece of mesh would have cost me $25-40. You can buy a mesh magazine holder or trash can for $6-7. I trimmed the mesh near the fan housings with black airline hose split longways. Way cheaper than vinyl trim.

You can see through the mesh in the pic but not in person. And that fan controller stays on the lowest setting. This baby runs COOL!


Kyle Hurt
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[FF337]

That looks awesome. Congrats.
B

 

[schooleyosis]

Wow, great build!!! Thanks for sharing.

 

[dwilliams87]

Great build man!

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[thereeferdude]

Thanks guys!
If anyone ever shied away from doing a build due to lack of electrical experience, I would encourage them to dive in. I have never done anything like this before, but with the due amount of research and planning, it wasn't too tough. Thank goodness for the vast amounts of info on the online forums!

I also wanted to share my major sources of supplies & equipment:
LEDgroupbuy.com
RapidLED.com
ReefLEDlights.com

I also order a few odds and ends off Ebay (project box, braided cable sheathing, 2.1 mm jacks & plugs), and how could I not visit Lowe's and Home Depot when working on any project?!

It was a tedious yet enjoyable experience. I am not the most patient soul, but this project made me slow down and think. Now I get to sit down and watch; it's always the best part!

Kyle Hurt
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[thereeferdude]

Finally the ballast enclosure:

With controller cables plugged in:

As mentioned earlier, all power for the lights and fans runs into this box and then to the light with a single cable.

Four power lines run in:
white ballast
blue ballast and exotic ballast (shared)
"moonlights" (now dusk/dawn)
Fans

Three lines run from the box to my DA ALC module:
whites
blues & exotics
lunar pod

Kyle Hurt
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[Apet66]

Nice job! I like how clean everything looks. Love the way you mounted it. Estimate cost? How's the PAR?

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[schooleyosis]

Are you worried about the ballasts getting too warm in that enclosure at all? Looks great, just curious.


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[thereeferdude]

Tony- I did a little running around to find a battery for the PAR meter- Batteries Plus should have been my first stop!

My PAR result were:
800 at waters surface
450+ top of reef structure
150-200 on sand bed
These readings were with all channels at 100%. I am currently running at 50-55% and slowly increasing. I am bumping the lights up a few % every week and watching the corals oh so closely. Polyp extension has increased and coloration is improving. Or I am watching too closely and seeing things; it is totally possible.

Ryan- You bring up a great point. The heat issue was one of my concerns also. So far, the box is warm, but not bad at all. I put feet on the box to give it space for air flow underneath, the end plates leave a tiny gap that also provides air flow through the box, and the ballasts have a tiny bit of space between them. The real test will be when I bring the amperages up. If the ballasts are running too hot, I will cut vents in the enclosure; fingers crossed.

Kyle Hurt
Via the R2R Forum iOS app